UPDATED: 'Wax' covered seabirds washed up on Bournemouth beaches

SIX distressed seabirds covered in a white waxy substance washed up on Bournemouth beaches on Friday.

Today, the RSPB has said those responsible should be shamed and potentially prosecuted.

On Saturday afternoon Dorset Wildlife Trust said around 20 birds had been rescued in the morning, while 20 had been found dead.

It said 30 birds were found at Swanage yesterday and there were reports of more washing in at Swanage today.

Marc Smith, from Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: “Our concern now is that the wind has changed direction which will start pushing the birds out to sea.

"As the days go on the birds will become colder and more exhausted, lowering their chances of survival. Birds may start to wash up in different areas now because of this wind change.

"If you see birds in your area please report this to the RSPCA who are leading the rescue effort.

"We know the public are keen to help but we strongly advise they do not try to rescue the birds. We do not want anyone putting themselves in danger and if the birds are not handled correctly they can end up exhausted which reduces their chance of survival.

"The number of birds is staggering and there is a wider concern of the long term impact this could potentially have on the marine environment as a whole. Dorset’s coastline is rich in marine wildlife including dolphins, sharks and seals.

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"Chesil Cove, the area where most of the birds have washed up, is part of a newly proposed Marine Protected Area. Home to starfish, brittlestars, queen scallops, burrowing anemones and the rare pink sea.

"We do not know if this substance will enter the food chain or if other animals are being affected. Only time will tell what the long term effects of this environmental disaster will be.”

Two kittiwakes, one cormorant, two razorbills and one guillemot are being looked after by wildlife specialists after washing up in Bournemouth on Friday, while a further two razorbills were recovered from the sea at Swanage.

Some birds were also discovered at Christchurch beaches on Friday night.

Further west, at Chesil Cove, the RSPCA has rescued more than 120 birds since reports of dead seabirds washing up first started to emerge on Thursday.

Dorset Wildlife Trust marine conservation officer Emma Rance told the Daily Echo: “We’ve collected a couple of black sacks full of dead birds at Chesil Cove. Sadly, a juvenile puffin was among them. A number of birds have also washed up dead at Kimmeridge Bay.”

The seabirds are mainly guillemots, but other species are affected.

Samples of the substance have been collected by the RSPCA and the Environment Agency and sent for further analysis. Scientists are, so far, unsure exactly what it is.

Durlston Country Park coastal marine ranger Ben Wallbridge said: “We are working closely with the RSPCA to monitor the situation. We’ve had reports of these two birds in the water at Swanage. They are alive but we are waiting for conditions to improve before trying to retrieve them.”

The RSPCA said the birds had not initially responded well to the usual methods of removing oil.

Ms Rance said: “Until we get back the results, we cannot really speculate on what this substance is. It is very sticky, white in colour and odourless. It is certainly something I’ve never seen on birds washing up in Dorset before.”

BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham said: “What’s particularly frightening is that if you’re picking up a hundred on the beach, there could be very many more which have died and been lost at sea.

“So this could be a tip of an iceberg as it stands at the moment.”

DWT staff say the oil has been coming off by using a combination of water and margarine.

Those responsible for a spill that could have caused the deaths of hundreds of sea birds along England's south coast could be prosecuted, wildlife experts said on Saturday.

Thousands of birds have been washed to shore along coastline that stretches from West Sussex to Cornwall after being covered in a sticky, oily substance.

Conservationists and volunteers raced to the shoreline to save as many birds as possible, and hundreds - mostly guillemots - are now being treated at RSPCA centres.

Scientists from the Environment Agency identified the mystery substance as a refined mineral oil, but not from an animal or vegetable-based oil and they have ruled out palm oil.

Tony Whitehead, from the RSPB, said investigations were continuing to establish what it was and where it came from.

''It's a refined mineral oil, which is a colourless and odourless substance, and it's related to petroleum jelly,'' he said.

''We don't know where it came from and we need to do a lot more testing on this substance to try and track it back to its source.

''There are people speculating it could be from a ship, that's possible but we just don't know yet.

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''We need to look at what happened and if appropriate take legal action and also, frankly, shame the people.''

This is a very serious case of damage to our environment mr beachcomber1, lets hope that you are the only 1 that makes such STUPID REMARKS!.

[quote][p][bold]beachcomber1[/bold] wrote:
surprised packham didn't blame this on cats[/p][/quote]This is a very serious case of damage to our environment mr beachcomber1, lets hope that you are the only 1 that makes such STUPID REMARKS!.downmoor-ch

beachcomber1 wrote…

surprised packham didn't blame this on cats

This is a very serious case of damage to our environment mr beachcomber1, lets hope that you are the only 1 that makes such STUPID REMARKS!.

Score: 0

fossilmole says...4:36pm Sat 2 Feb 13

beachcomber1 wrote…

why do you think i think i'm funny?

I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts? Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them. On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.

[quote][p][bold]beachcomber1[/bold] wrote:
why do you think i think i'm funny?[/p][/quote]I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts?
Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them.
On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.fossilmole

beachcomber1 wrote…

why do you think i think i'm funny?

I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts? Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them. On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.

Score: 0

SeafaringMan says...5:51pm Sat 2 Feb 13

fossilmole wrote…

beachcomber1 wrote…

why do you think i think i'm funny?

I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts? Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them. On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.

Only the State that issues a Master's Certificate can cancel or suspend it. Not likely to be British, not least because there are not many left. Don't think you will get much change out of - say - (insert Third World country of choice)!

[quote][p][bold]fossilmole[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]beachcomber1[/bold] wrote:
why do you think i think i'm funny?[/p][/quote]I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts?
Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them.
On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.[/p][/quote]Only the State that issues a Master's Certificate can cancel or suspend it. Not likely to be British, not least because there are not many left. Don't think you will get much change out of - say - (insert Third World country of choice)!SeafaringMan

fossilmole wrote…

beachcomber1 wrote…

why do you think i think i'm funny?

I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts? Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them. On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.

Only the State that issues a Master's Certificate can cancel or suspend it. Not likely to be British, not least because there are not many left. Don't think you will get much change out of - say - (insert Third World country of choice)!

Score: 0

beachcomber1 says...7:03pm Sat 2 Feb 13

downmoor-ch wrote…

beachcomber1 wrote…

surprised packham didn't blame this on cats

This is a very serious case of damage to our environment mr beachcomber1, lets hope that you are the only 1 that makes such STUPID REMARKS!.

damage? yes. serious? possibly. very serious? now who is making the silly remarks. the latest figure i can find for the guillemot population in uk waters is 1,400,000 so a hundred, or even a thousand, whilst regrettable, is hardly going to tip the species into extinction.

[quote][p][bold]downmoor-ch[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]beachcomber1[/bold] wrote:
surprised packham didn't blame this on cats[/p][/quote]This is a very serious case of damage to our environment mr beachcomber1, lets hope that you are the only 1 that makes such STUPID REMARKS!.[/p][/quote]damage? yes. serious? possibly. very serious? now who is making the silly remarks. the latest figure i can find for the guillemot population in uk waters is 1,400,000 so a hundred, or even a thousand, whilst regrettable, is hardly going to tip the species into extinction.beachcomber1

downmoor-ch wrote…

beachcomber1 wrote…

surprised packham didn't blame this on cats

This is a very serious case of damage to our environment mr beachcomber1, lets hope that you are the only 1 that makes such STUPID REMARKS!.

damage? yes. serious? possibly. very serious? now who is making the silly remarks. the latest figure i can find for the guillemot population in uk waters is 1,400,000 so a hundred, or even a thousand, whilst regrettable, is hardly going to tip the species into extinction.

Score: 0

beachcomber1 says...7:06pm Sat 2 Feb 13

fossilmole wrote…

beachcomber1 wrote…

why do you think i think i'm funny?

I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts? Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them. On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.

my remark, whilst tangential to the article, was a serious comment and my opinion of mr packham, based on his recent musings about cats. bad science meets sensationalist journalism. i am as entitled to my opinion of him, and to voice it, as you are to yours of me.

[quote][p][bold]fossilmole[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]beachcomber1[/bold] wrote:
why do you think i think i'm funny?[/p][/quote]I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts?
Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them.
On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.[/p][/quote]my remark, whilst tangential to the article, was a serious comment and my opinion of mr packham, based on his recent musings about cats. bad science meets sensationalist journalism. i am as entitled to my opinion of him, and to voice it, as you are to yours of me.beachcomber1

fossilmole wrote…

beachcomber1 wrote…

why do you think i think i'm funny?

I just think you are a nurd! Why not use this space for some sensible posts? Tanker captains caught swilling out their tanks in our waters should be banned from British ports..for life. If that doesn't work get the Martime Agenices to take their Master's Ticket off them. On the beach they woudn't be in a postion to do much further damage.

my remark, whilst tangential to the article, was a serious comment and my opinion of mr packham, based on his recent musings about cats. bad science meets sensationalist journalism. i am as entitled to my opinion of him, and to voice it, as you are to yours of me.

Score: 0

Yankee1 says...11:20pm Sat 2 Feb 13

The Gulf Stream is a great boon to the UK. It keeps these northern isles temperate. It also brings over the residues from the BP Oil spills almost three years ago. The oil has congealed into a waxy petroleum based substance. It is Karma coming back to haunt the UK.

The Gulf Stream is a great boon to the UK. It keeps these northern isles temperate.
It also brings over the residues from the BP Oil spills almost three years ago. The oil has congealed into a waxy petroleum based substance.
It is Karma coming back to haunt the UK.Yankee1

The Gulf Stream is a great boon to the UK. It keeps these northern isles temperate. It also brings over the residues from the BP Oil spills almost three years ago. The oil has congealed into a waxy petroleum based substance. It is Karma coming back to haunt the UK.

Ipsoregulated

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